Busy, busy lately. Summer is flying by. Just a quick post today to show off the flourishing tomato plants. Yum.

First up, the Sweet 100s. This hybrid has grown like crazy - it is over 6 feet tall - and is now producing like crazy. Tomatoes are sweet, with just a touch of acidity, and the perfect size for snacking.







This heirloom tomato, Mr. Stripey, similarly is growing like mad. It is also more than 6 feet tall, and also is producing like mad. It has 14 tomatoes on it, and they each look to be at least half to three-quarters of a pound each.





Both of these indeterminate tomato plants are in the ground, in the second of my two 4-foot by 4-foot raised garden beds. They are far and away the tallest and most prolific growers in my garden so far this year.
One of the most enjoyable spin-offs of the local food movement has been the birth - or rebirth - of farmers' markets all across the country. In 2014, 8,268 farmers' markets were operating across the United States, up an astronomical 180 percent over the 4,593 markets in existence in 2006, according to a 2015 study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Bucks County is home to more than 60 farms, pick-your-own fields, vineyards, orchards and farmstands, according to the county PennState Extension office. Not included amongst that tally (for whatever reason) is a farmer's market right in the heart of Bucks County.

The Perkasie Farmers' Market opened for the season on June 20, 2015 and runs every Saturday through Oct. 17. It is relatively small, compared to some other markets, but the produce selection and quality can't be beat. 




My obsession this year is tomatoes - heirloom tomatoes, to be exact, and there is no shortage of those wonders at the Perkasie market.




Besides produce, other vendors sell handmade arts and crafts - including some wonderfully fragrant soaps and bath bombs.













Vendors vary week to week, but have included:

  • 14 Carrot Farm - Quakertown, PA
  • Brumbaugh's Farm - Telford, PA
  • Freeland Market - Pottstown, PA
  • Hershberger Heritage Farm - Sellersville, PA
  • Living Hope Farm, Harleysville, PA
  • Small Batch Kitchen, Harleysville, PA
  • Stone & Key Cellars - Montgomeryville, PA
  • World O'Honey - Silverdale, PA

With the addition of live music and family-friendly activities such as chalk drawing or painting with vegetables, the Perkasie Farmers' Market is a fun, laid-back weekend destination. It's one more way people are discovering - or rediscovering - warm and welcoming small towns like Perkasie, and one more way that community leaders are working to make those towns' downtown areas vibrant, attractive places to live, work, and visit.

To see what's coming up at the market each week, check out their Facebook page.

If you go:

What: Perkasie Farmer's Market
Where: Corner of 7th Street and Market, Perkasie, PA
When: 9 a.m. to noon
Why: Fresh food and supporting local farmers and crafts people

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